Flying-machine.



v.1. coucis, s. FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION mm OCT. 13. m5. 1,183,799. Patented May16,191 6.

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v. J. commas, Sn. FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT, 13. 1915.

Patented May16, 1916.

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IVZWOEFUCZ Garzeesflu wayzmw V. J. CONCES, Sn.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 13.1915.

Patented May 16, 1916.

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V. J. CONCES, Sn. FLYING MACHINE.

, APPLICATION nuzo OCT. 13. $915.

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Patented May-16,1916. I

UNITED STATES PATENT former VIN'GENT J. GQN'L'HEIS, SR, 015

EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA.

FLYING-MACHINE.

Specification of llet'ters Patent.

Patented m 16, 1916.

Application flled October 13, 1915. Serial No. 55,700.

To all whom may concern.

Be it known that I, Vnvor'm'r J. CoNoEs, Sn, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Chicago, in the county of Lake and aunched either directly into the air or in a manner similar to machines of the gliding type, and which may be made to hover over any given'point and caused to ascend or descend in a straight path at any desired rate of speed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction and arrangement of v liftin propellers and lifting and driving propellers, together with controlling mechanism, whereby the sets of propellers may be independently or conjointly. thrown {into and out of action at will, and whereby in the event of the incapacity of the lifting propellers the lifting and driving propellers will serve to sustain and drive the craft ahead, while in the event of the incapacity of the lifting and driving propellers the lifting prope r's will serve-to sustain the machine and adapt it who controlled for a safe descent to the 7 ground. A further object of the invention is to provide means in the form of a steering propeller for dirigibly' controlling the flight of the machine in a horizontal plane for lateral steering control, and further to provide means whereby the propelling devices may be governed to. vary the speed of travel of the machine in both a vertical and in a horizontal plane and for controlling the machine to maintain the stability thereof.

With'these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the features of cone struction, combination and arrangement of parts herein fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which y r I Figure 1 is a front elevation of a flying machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the machlne. F 1g. 4 is'an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal'sect1on taken on a line parallel with the longitudinal axis of the machine. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3.

lmcarrying my invention into practice, I provide a frame 1. ofsuitable construction, and which includes a main frame portion 2 and head and tail portions 3 and 3', the frame as a Whole being made of wood or metal or of composite material and consisting of upright and horizontal beams and connecting members and braces suitably fastened and reinforced. The central portion 2 of the frame is walled, as shown at 4 to provide a cabin or housin said cabin or housing being subdivided %)y a horizontal upper compartment 7. The sides of these compartments may be provided with doors, windows or other suitably-closed openings to admit light and afford'side observation, and these compartments may be entirely open at the front and rear or suitably closed,

as may be desired in service. The lower compartment 6 is preferably designed for partition 5 to provide compartments 6 and 1 7, the partltion 5 forming the ceiling of the lower compartment 6 and floor of the use as a pilots and engine compartment and 'the upper compartment 7 for use as a passenger or freight carrying compartment,

but their uses may be varied as circumstances may require. The central portion of the frame preferably has a depending extension 9 in which the compartment 6 is mainl formed, and this extension may be suitab y constructed to stably support the machine when it rests upon the ground.' 6

If desired, the said extension may be equipped with wheelsandskids or hydroplane floats to adapt the machine to be launched and landed like a gliding struc-v J ournaled upon the central portion of the.

loo

'ture as well as to rest and travel. upon theof water and to, be

machine is a vertical drive shaft 10 receiving driving action from a'motor 11. This 'sha is constantly driven and in practice may be I operated by a plurality of motors, 'so'that:

1n the event of the derangement of a motor or motors the shaft may still be driven b adequate power. At its upper endthe-shag carries gears 13 and 14 meshing with gears 15 and 16 on horizontal and longitudinally extending shafts 17 and 18 journaled respectively upon the main frame and head and tail frames and respectively carrying at their front and rear ends beyond the head and tail frames sets of lifting and driving propellers 19 and 20, each set consisting of a pair of propellers arranged approximately at an angle of 90 with relation to each other, each propeller preferably having a pair of diametrically disposed blades so that the blades of the two propellers Will have a working arrangement at an angle of 90 to each other. The blades of these propellers are dished or set at such an angle that, while the propellers of each set revolve vertically and in a direction transversely of the machine on a horizontal longitudinal axis, they will exert both a lifting and a driving impulse. The two sets of lifting and driving propellers have sufiicientlifting and driving power to maintain the-craft in flightat a certain rate of speed and to govern it for ascent or a safe descent as occasion may require. The gears 15 and 16 are feathered to slide upon and rotate with the shafts 17 and 18 and are adapted to be thrown into and out of engagement with the gears 13 and 14 by means of hell crank levers 13 and 14 coupled by connections 13 and 14 passing over suitable guides with control devices 13 and 14, whereby the propellers may be independently or conjointly thrown into and out of action at will without stopping the driving shaft.

Disposed within the spaces bounded by I the tail frames 3 and 3. are sets of lifting propellers 21 and 22, each comprising a pair of superposed propellers, the propellers of each pair having the same arrangement as the'propellers of each set of lifting and driving propellers, and said propellers 21 and 22 being respectively mounted upon vertical shafts 23 and 24 arranged in parallel relation with and equidistantly from the central guide shaft 10. On the shafts 23 and 24 are gears 25 and 26'which mesh'with gears 27 and 28 loosely mounted on a hori-- zontal longitudinal transmission shaft 29 in gear with the drive shaft 10, as indicated at 30. The gears 27 and 28 are feathered to slide upon and rotate with the shaft 29 and adapted to be thrown into and out of connection with the gears 25 and'26 by){pivote d levers 27 and 28' coupled by'connecting rods 27 and 28, with control devices 27 and 28', whereby theshaft 29 may be connected with Or disconnected from the driving shaft 10 and the propeller shafts 23 and 24 thrown into and out of operation, independently or conjointly, at will. The propellers 21 and 22 are of a lifting capacity sufiicient to sustain the weight of the loaded machine and to lift it directly from the ground, and it will thus be understood that the machine may be caused to directly ascend at any given speed and also to descend in a con-- the machine reaches the desired altitude the speed of the lifting propellers maybe governed to render them capable in conjunction with-the lifting and driving propellers of sustaining the weight of the craft, so that the driving propellers will force the craft ahead in horizontal. flight. Whenever it is desired to cause the machine to hover or remain stationary in the air over any given point the lifting and driving propellers are thrown out of action and the lifting propellers operated with sufficient speed to sustain the machine in the air.

If while in flight the'lifting propeller should become incapacitated, the lifting and driving propellers will carry the machine and enable it to be controlled until a landing is made, and on the other hand if the lifting and driving propellers should become incapacitated the lifting propellers will sustain the weight of the craft and enable it to be landed at any desired and controlled rate of speed. Inasmuch as the different propellers ofthe sets are also capable of being independently governed, it will be further understood that in the event of incapacity of the steering mechanism employed the machine may be steered by controlling the propellers in an obvious way, and the described arrangement of the sets of propellers also enables the machine to be balanced at all times with great reliability and efficiency. \By disposing the sets of lifting and driving and the sets of lifting propellers at the stated points upon the machine frame, these-propellers act to establish gyroscopic forces which neutralize each other to maintain stability while opposing contrary air pressures or forces, thus keeping the machine when in full flight in a state of equilibrium.

In-.,order to provide for the steering of the machine under all ordinary conditions a steering propeller 31 is employed and mountble gear39 on the shaft 29. The gear 39 may consist,.as shown, of spaced gear memhers fixed to a sleeve 39' feathered to'slide 13$ uponand rotate with the shaft-29, gear being adjustable in opposite directions from a neutral position to bring one or the other of its gears into mesh with the gear 38, so that the direction of motion of the steering propeller may, be reversed at ,Will. Thesleeve '39 is adjustable by means ofa lever 40 coupled by a connectmg rod 41With a control device 42. i

The steering propeller is arranged upon one of the lateralor side portions of the frame and when driven in one direction will v have a driving action to turn the machine propeller or its gearing should become inop- 'erative from any cause the machine'may be in one direction, and when driven in the opposite direction will operate as a tractor for a reverse steering operation, as will be readily understood. In the event that this steered and controlled in the manner above described.

I claim l 1. A flying machine comprising a main frame including a central portion and'head and tail portions, a vertical shaft upon the 7 central portion of the frame, shafts extendportions of the frame, and means for independently or conjointly driving said verti, cal propeller shaft from the central vertical shaft.

2. A flying machine comprising amain frame including a central portion and head a and tail portions, a vertical'shaft upon the central portion of the frame, shafts extending longitudinally upon the. head and tail portions, of the frame in adirectionparallel to the line of flight, and each carrying a pair of driving and lifting propellers having a fixed angular relationship, vertically disposed propeller shafts upon the head and tail portions of the frame, each carrying a pair of superposed lifting propellers arranged to revolve within such portions of the frame, connections for driving the respectivepropeller shafts from the central respective connections,

jvertical shaft, and means for controlling the 3..A flying machine comprlsing a main frame including a central portion andvhead fi o and tail portions, a vertical shaft upon the central portion of the frame, shafts extending longitudinally ;.u"pon the head and tail portions of the framein a direction parallel to the line of flight, and each carrying a pair of driving andlifting propellershaving a fixed angular-relationship, means for I independently or conjointly driving said propeller shafts from said vertical shaft, ver-- tically disposed prdpeller'shafts upon the head and tail portions of the frame, each carrying a pair of superposed lifting propellers arranged to revolve within such portions of the frame, means for independently or, conjointly driving\said vertical propeller shaft from the central vertical shaft, a steering propeller mount on a horizontal lon tudinal axis mounted .upon one of the sai frame portions, and

means for driving said stee' propeller in opposite directions from the said central vertical shaft.

In testimon' whereof I afi x my signature in'presenceo two witnesses.

- VINCENT J. 'O0NGES,

to revolve vertically 

